Official Org an Of The Sla conic Benevolent Order Of The State Of Texas. Founded 1897. BENEVOLENCE
VOLUME 53 — NO. 19
HUMANITY
BROTHERHOOD
Postmaster: Please Send Form 3579 with Undeliverable Copies to: SUPREME LODGE, SPJST, P. 0. Box 100, TEMPLE, TEXAS
MAY 12, 1965
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK INSURANCE "SALESMEN"
QUOTES . . .
Perhaps you nave or have not noticed the big change in the approaches, services, and overall skill of insurance salespeople, including our own SPJST organizers. (Other names have been bandied about, such as underwriter, representative, agent, solicitor, and others. As !Car as I know, ours are still officially called organizers). Whatever name they go by, these people are the second most important ones in your family's affairs. • • Fifty years ago, or perhaps a lot less, a new "agent" was given a rate book, some basic policies, and a verbal mandate: "Go out and sell!" Today, about 86 per cent of all American families already own some sort of life insurance, so the agent has set aside his "gotta-convince-'em" technique. He no longer relies solely on salesmanship and emotional appeal. Indeed, he has risen to a new position of trust and confidence within the family circle itself because of the new emphasis on intelligent analysis of human problems. He may even be asked to play the role of "budget-maker," sharing in the family's hopes and dreams 'for the future. As a purchaser of insurance protection, don't you have the right to expect your Ciinsurance salesman to know which type of insurance plan you and your family need most and can afford, at various times throughout your life? And since you look upon
If things always worked the way they should, you could write the history of the world from now on But they don't, and it is those deviations from the nortnal that make progress. • • You will never stub your toe standing still. The faster you go, the more chance there is of stubbing your toe, but the more chance you have of getting somewhere. —Both from Charles F. Kettering Don't be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps. —David Lloyd George your insurance salesman as something of a family "financial adviser," don't you also count on him to share with you his knowledge and understanding of bank interest, income tax, government bonds, social security provisions, estate growth, retirement benefits, as they might pertain to your particular situation? All of this high-sounding knowledge wouldn't be worth too much to the average family if he didn't also know a good deal about the price of ,grooerles, clothing, school expenses, and medical costs. • • Before the insurance industry "grew up," or "graduated," chances were rather slim that you would have gotten any of this information from a li)fe insurance salesman. Quite some
time ago, you couldn't even be sure of getting anything back on your life insurance investment. A study of life insurance history tells us that back in the 17th and 18th centuries, insurance underwriters had their offices in their hats, and by the time a claim for settlement was made, the wily operator had vanished. Life insurance and insurance agents had a notorious reputation. The entire profession and industry suffered by the acts of the many unscrupulous agents. No one trusted life insurance. It used to be that people bought insurance in the form elf wagers. Would the ailing bishop live past January 1st? Will the notorious countess go to the guillotine? When King George II rode off to war, 25 per cent was paid against his return. The Gambling Act of 1774 purged life insurance of the gambling evils that made a mockery of its main purpose, which was of course, protection. • • We've come a long way since those days. Today, more than 120 million policyholders rely on life insurance protection. Why the change in attitudes? Because the public now has confidence in both the companies issuing the policies, and the agents who represent them. The insurance "con" man or the "slick talker" are becoming more and more scarce. It has been estimated that over 200,000 men and women are engaged in the business of selling insurance protection. In the